Understanding
by Eternal Soldier
Summary: The nurses came and went rather quickly at Bennington. But one nurse has stuck around for a very long time, and Spencer Reid couldn't help but connect with her. My entry into the CCOAC Original Character Challenge. Rated T for mentions of murder.


_A/N: Okay, so I actually tried to publish this about two days ago, but the Doc Manager decided not to work properly, so I'm only able to publish this now. Even now, it's still screwing with me. This is my entry for the CCOAC Original Character Challenge. My chosen character was- of course- Spencer Reid, and my assigned Original Character was Phillipa Konyers- a nurse at his mother's sanitarium. I hope you enjoy!_

_Oh, and for anyone reading Chicago or Magic, I'm trying to get the next chapters finished soon. I've had soo many uni assignments to do, and I've had some... well, personal issues to work through. But I will have them up as soon as I can, I promise!_

_Summary: The nurses came and went rather quickly at Bennington. But one nurse has stuck around for a very long time, and Spencer Reid couldn't help but connect with her._

_Disclaimer: See my profile._

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**Understanding**

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The nurses came and went rather quickly at Bennington, something Doctor Reid had realised not long after his mother was first admitted. One of her original nurses was gone after the first six months, the other one less than three months later. Over the next twelve years, he saw many nurses come through that place. There was one of them that lasted, though. And that woman's name was Phillipa Konyers.

Phillipa was one of the more experienced nurses at Bennington, probably about Rossi's age. She'd come to the sanitarium about four months before Reid left Las Vegas to join the FBI, and had started working closely with Diana Reid about two months after that. She'd been working with Diana ever since. There were usually two nurses that worked closely with Reid's mother, and while one of them changed constantly, he was glad that she always had Phillipa. Diana needed some sort of consistency.

Reid saw Phillipa every time he came to the sanitarium to visit. Because of this, he often wondered whether she ever had any time off; whether she had a life or a family outside of her job. Reid always berated himself a little after this thought crossed his mind, though- it wasn't like he was any different or any less dedicated to his job than Phillipa was. But, because he knew that he himself was so dedicated to his job because it was all he really had (besides his mother, of course), he still wondered. He wondered whether Phillipa had much outside of her job. He wondered whether she had friends, a family, somebody she loved. When he went back to work, Reid's still answered questions were pushed to the back of his mind by the horrors he saw every day. But every time he came home to Las Vegas, he saw Phillipa, and he remembered. And he wondered.

One particularly tough case brought the team, and Reid, to Las Vegas. Reid couldn't bring himself to visit his mother while he was working- the case was hard, and it was wearing on him, and he didn't want his mother to worry. But as soon as the case was solved, Bennington Sanitarium was the first place he headed.

"Dr Reid!" a female voice cried, almost as soon as Reid had walked through the double doors. The voice was strong, and happy to see him, and Reid recognised it instantly.

"Ms. Konyers," Reid said with a smile, turning to his left to face the spritely woman striding towards him. "It's good to see you."

"Please, Dr Reid, call me Phillipa," the woman insisted. "I see you or talk to you often enough. Ms. Konyers sounds far too formal."

"Well then, you don't have to call me doctor," said Reid. "I'd say you could call me by my first name, but, well… nobody calls me by my first name. Except for JJ- one of my co-workers- and well, Mum. Even my best friend calls me by my last name."

"And you don't mind?"

"No," said Reid. "I don't mind at all."

"Well then, Reid it is," said Phillipa, wearing a warm smile. "Your mum's actually sleeping at the moment; she was quite tired earlier today. She would be very happy to see you when she wakes up, though. And she shouldn't be asleep for too much longer. Did you want to come wait in my office?"

Reid felt slightly unsure. "I don't know… I don't want to impose or anything."

"Nonsense!" said Phillipa sternly, with a gaze that made Reid falter slightly. "There is no imposition at all. I would be absolutely delighted to have your company for an hour or two."

Reid couldn't help but smile again. Phillipa was a woman that definitely had her way with people, Reid could tell. She was one of those people who just somehow managed to make others just feel comfortable around her (even people like Reid, who wasn't exactly a people person). Reid knew that was exactly why the sanitarium had hired her in the first place- a personality like that could only be helpful in her profession. "Well then," he said finally. "Lead the way. But could I ask for a coffee? It's been a long case, and I really do like my coffee."

"You too, huh?" said Phillipa as she turned, leaning Reid down a long, white corridor. "I'm a big coffee fan myself. I think a lot of people that drink the stuff are."

"Well, caffeine is the most addictive drug in the world," Reid informed Phillipa matter-of-factly. "And since it isn't regulated or considered overly dangerous, well… people don't really see a problem with drinking a lot of it. It definitely keeps me going through a long day."

Phillipa chuckled. "Diana told me you were like this," she said. She arrived at a white door, with her name and job title in plain black lettering. "This is my office," she announced, unlocking the door and opening it. "Come on in."

Reid entered the room after Phillipa, looking around with a profiler's eye. There wasn't much personal decoration around, except for some photographs sitting on top of a small table. A number of them featured Phillipa with a man and a woman who looked to be a few years younger than her. Her brother and sister, maybe?

Reid moved over to the table of photos, picking up one of two women in their twenties, who looked strikingly similar. "Are these your children?" he asked.

Phillipa moved closer to Reid, to see which photo he was looking at. "No," she said. "Those are my nieces; my sister's children. Julia and Rachel." Phillipa smiled fondly. "Both very beautiful girls, like their mother. I never had my own children. I was never married."

"Really? I would've thought that you would've gotten married," said Reid, surprised. Realising that his words could be construed as an insult, he added quickly, "Not that I think that there's anything wrong with you not being married. I just would've thought that you're the type of person who someone would want to marry."

Phillipa shook her head, smiling. "Oh, you're so much like my brother. He would often go off on a tangent like that, before realising that what he was saying wasn't something we really found interesting, or could possibly be taken as insulting. We never took them as insulting, of course. We knew him too well for that."

_Maybe that's why I've found it so easy to talk to Phillipa_, Reid thought to himself. _Because she already knows someone like me. She's used to someone like me_. "It sounds like you and your brother were close," he commented.

Phillipa's expression suddenly became downcast, and she turned away from Reid to the coffee machine sitting in a corner of her office. "Yeah," she said in a small voice. "We were. How do you take your coffee?"

Reid studied the back of Phillipa curiously; realising there was more to the story about her brother. "With a lot of sugar," he answered, trying to decide whether to probe Phillipa further or not. When she turned back around, it was obvious that Phillipa had tried to smooth her face back into a happy expression. But Reid, being a profiler, knew that she was anything but.

"Thanks," he said, taking the coffee Phillipa handed him and taking a long drink from it. He used the moment to think, gathering his thoughts, trying to decide what to do. On the one hand, Reid didn't know Phillipa that well. She could possibly get very angry at him for prying, and consider his question to be far too nosy. On the other hand, Phillipa had always been very comfortable around Reid. She connected with him, because he reminded her of her brother. And sometimes, it helped to talk about it.

"Phillipa? Can I ask you something?" Reid spoke up.

Phillipa looked Reid in the eye, and something there told her exactly what he wanted to ask. She sighed heavily. "I guess you can. I can't say I'm surprised that you're asking, though."

Reid looked at her for a moment before saying, "Your brother is dead, isn't he?" Phillipa nodded, her eyes downcast. "How did he die?"

"He was shot in a robbery gone wrong, over twenty years ago," Phillipa whispered in a small voice. "The guy was never caught."

"I'm sorry," said Reid, automatically but sincerely.

"Don't be," said Phillipa. "It wasn't your fault. But I never… I never really moved on from that. I never got over Richard's death. I couldn't… I couldn't get married, start a family, without Rich right by my side. I… I felt that his shadow was hanging over me, all the time, preventing me from moving on. I know that's not healthy, and I know that's not what Rich would've wanted, but that's the case. But this job… Rich knew this was what I always wanted. He would've wanted be to be here. That's why this job means so much to me. That's why I work so hard. I mean, this is what I wanted anyway, I love it, but- I'm doing this to make him proud."

"Your brother would've been proud of you, Phillipa," Reid assured her. "I know he would be. And I'm no stranger to working so hard to make someone you love proud." As Reid spoke, both he and Phillipa knew that he was talking about his mother. "Can I ask you something else?" When Phillipa nodded, Reid asked, "Why did you choose Bennington?"

"Rich and I… we'd always wanted to live in Las Vegas, when we were younger. And out of all the sanitariums around here, Bennington just felt right," said Phillipa, a small smile crossing her face.

Reid was saved from saying anything else by a much younger nurse knocking on the office door. "Ms Konyers? Diana Reid's awake. And she's asking to see her son."

Phillipa smiled. "Well then, Reid. Let's go see your mother, shall we?" Phillipa left her office, Reid trailing after her. It was right then and there that Reid realised that no matter how far away he was, no matter how hard he worked, his mother was always going to be well looked after. And at the same time, Reid vowed that he wouldn't let his past get in the way of a happy future- a family. Because that's what his mother- and Phillipa as well, because Reid knew that was why she told him her story- would've wanted for him.

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_A/N: So there you have it- I hope you all enjoyed it! Reviews would be very much appreciated! :)_


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